Good news for homeowners facing foreclosure!!

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced Monday that they will suspend all repossessions from Dec. 17  until Jan. 2, 2013.

"The holidays are a chance to be with loved ones, and we want to relieve some stress at this time of year," said Terry Edwards, Executive Vice President of Credit Portfolio Management, Fannie Mae.

Bank of America said it will also suspend foreclosure evictions both for loans it owns and for those it services for investors during the holiday. Still waiting for JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citibank to announce their holiday intentions.

For more information on San Fernando Valley Foreclosures and Short Sales visit http://www.sanfernandovalleyshortsaleandforeclosure.com/

Los Angeles Homes Prices On The Rise

Zillow predicts that home prices in the Los Angeles area are set to rise moderately over the next year. A report released by the website Tuesday found that home prices have risen 2.7% over the last year in the Los Angeles metro area -- which consists of Los Angeles and Orange counties -- to hit $397,000 by the end of the third quarter.
The website called a bottom for the Los Angeles area in the first quarter of 2012 and expects home prices to increase 3.5% throughout the region over the next year, according to its report.   If you have been thinking of owning your own home now is the time to jump off the fence. Interest rates are still low but prices are going up.

Foreclosure and Short Sale Update

                                      Foreclosure Sales

– properties foreclosed on in the past 12 months – accounted for 16.3% of the Los Angeles area resale market last month. Down from 16.6% the month before and 32.8% a year earlier. Last month’s level was the lowest since October 2007 when it was 16.0%. In the current cycle, the foreclosure resales hit a high of 56.7% in February 2009.

                                            Short sales

- transactions where the sale price was less than was owed on the property – made up an estimated 26.0% of Southland resales last month. That was down from 27.6% the month before and up from 25.4% a year earlier.

Bank Of America Makes Short Sales A little Faster

Bank Of America recently announced it will begin to use additional methods to determine property values in an attempt to streamline the short sale process and reduce cycle time.  As of mid-October, different valuation methods that do not require access to the property will be implemented on some transactions.  This will reduce the time frame for the valuation stage from several weeks to a few days.

Think that selling short is the answer for you. Call me and let me help you through the process free! You don't pay me, the bank does.

Prices In Los Angeles Are On The Rise!

Zillow.com predicts that homes prices in  Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley area are on the rise.
Zillow reported that home prices have risen almost 3% in the past year and expects prices to increase 3.5% over the next year.

Freddie Mac says that  interest rates moved  lower this week with lenders offering 30-year fixed-rate home loans 3.39%.

Me thinks NOW might be the time to buy!!!!!

End Is Nigh For Certain Tax Exemptions

Currently, any debt forgiven by a lender in a short sale, loan modification, or foreclosure is
exempt from federal taxation. However, that exemption is scheduled to expire Jan. 1, 2013.    Borrowers will have to count mortgage relief from lenders as income on their federal tax returns, if the exemption is allowed to expire. That means, for example, a borrower
would have to pay taxes on a $100,000 reduction in principal owed on a loan, or a
$20,000 write-off in the amount owed after a short sale.

 An extension of the tax exemption – established under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt
Relief Act of 2007 – is a strong possibility. But given that Congress will have to grapple
with serious fiscal issues after the November elections, there is no guarantee the
exemption will emerge from those negotiations intact.

 The Debt Relief Act exemption applies only to canceled mortgage debt used to buy,
build, or improve a primary residence, not a second home. The maximum exemption is
$2 million.

 Reinstating the tax would undercut the the effect of the National Mortgage Settlement
reached earlier this year in the federal government’s investigation into banks’
mishandling of foreclosure documents.

 Under the terms of the settlement, five of the biggest mortgage lenders must put some
$17 billion toward debt relief that enables borrowers to stay in their homes. Smaller
portions are reserved for short sales and refinancing.

For More Info Visit San Fernando Valley Short Sales & Foreclosures

Tough Market For Owner Occopied Buyers

SEATTLE, Oct. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The inventory of lower-priced homes for sale, which are commonly sought by first-time home buyers, has dropped by more than 40 percent in California over the past year, according to a new Zillow analysis, which tracks changes in the number of homes listed for sale on Zillow across the country as of Sept. 30, 2012 and compares inventory changes in the bottom, middle and upper tiers of home prices.
California has the highest annual rate of inventory reductions across all three housing tiers (-37.5 percent), but the inventory in the bottom tier of homes saw the biggest decline (-42.7 percent); with lower-priced homes in the Fresno (-59.7 percent), Sacramento (-55.4 percent), San Francisco (-53.2 percent) and Modesto (-50.5 percent) metros seeing the largest annual reductions. These homes commonly are purchased by first-time home buyers and, more recently, investors. Nationally, the bottom price tier has experienced an inventory reduction of 15.3 percent over the past year.
"First-time homebuyers are being squeezed out of the market by falling inventory and the rapid influx of investors looking to buy basic homes to rent out to the growing population of people who have recently been foreclosed upon," said Stan Humphries, Zillow chief economist. "Investors are paying in cash and can close sooner, which is more favorable to banks and homeowners looking to sell."

This is great news for sellers. Properties are selling with multiple offers and sometimes well over asking.  If you have been thinking of selling now just might be the time. Contact me and we can go over your options and see if now is the time for you to sell your home.

Heather Farquhar
Keller Williams Realty
www.HeatherHouseHunter.com
Heather@HeatherHouseHunter.com

Home prices signal recovery may be here

The S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index, which covers more than 80 percent of the housing market in the United States, climbed 6.9 percent in the three months ended June 30 compared to the first three months of 2012.

The Time To Buy Is Now!

Interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgage are below 3.5 percent. These are more than just historically low rates; they deals slanted toward borrowers. Housing starts rose in June and rents are still on the rise. and for those who can afford to invest in property. Trulia reported that it is cheaper to buy than rent in the 100 biggest metropolitan areas. For more information of buying or selling a home in The San Fernando Valley visit www.the-valley-real-estate.com 

For renters, buying a home pays off after three years on average

A new analysis by real estate website Zillow shows that, on average, a renter thinking about buying a home will reach what it calls the “break-even horizon,” after just three years.  The break-even horizon compares what it would cost to buy or rent the same home in a number of U.S. markets over time.

California Homeowner Bill of Rights signed into law


California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law yesterday the Homeowner Bill of Rights to help struggling Californians keep their homes. This law aims to avoid foreclosure where possible to help stabilize California's housing market and prevent the other negative effects of foreclosures on families, communities, and the economy. The new law will generally prohibit lenders from engaging in dual tracking, require a single point of contact for borrowers seeking foreclosure prevention alternatives, provide borrowers with certain safeguards during the foreclosure process, and provide borrowers with the right to sue lenders for material violations of this law.

Making sense of the story

• The Bill of Rights prohibits “dual track” foreclosures that occur when a mortgage servicer continues foreclosure while also reviewing a homeowner’s application for a loan modification.

• Under the new law, homeowners must be provided with a single point of contact when negotiating a loan modification.

• It expands notice requirements that must be provided to a borrower before taking action on a loan modification application or pursuing foreclosure.

• Additionally, the bill allows injunctions against foreclosure until violations are corrected and permits civil penalties against servicers that file multiple, inaccurate mortgage documents or commit reckless or willful violations of law.

• These new laws make California the first state in the nation to take provisions in the National Mortgage Settlement, which covered the nation’s five largest mortgage loan servicers, and apply those rules to all mortgage servicers.

• The law will go into effect January 1, 2013.

"Brace yourself real estate prices are going back up! House prices, after falling for more than five years, are rising again. All the major sales-price indexes show that there have been modest national increases in recent months, even after adjusting for seasonal patterns. "
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Reverse Mortgage

Thinking about taking a reverse mortgage out on your home? Make sure you understand the ins and outs before you sign on the dotted line. Reverse mortgages can be very complicated and their are lots of bad people out there waiting to take advantage of you. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has put together a report that is a must read if you think a reverse mortgage is the answer to your problems. To read the report CLICK HERE

The rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan, the most popular mortgage product, dropped to 3.62% from 3.66% last week. The rate has matched or hit a new low for 10 of the past 11 weeks, Freddie Mac said. Meanwhile, the 15-year fixed rate fell to 2.89%, down from 2.94%

Q-1: Is there a 3.8% real estate “sales tax” or a transfer tax created in health care bill?

A: No. There is neither a real estate “sales tax” nor a real estate transfer tax under any federal law. The Internet has generated several viral items describing such a tax. Those Internet postings are totally false. The 2010 health care legislation did create a new 3.8% tax, but it applies only to a limited group of taxpayers.


Q-2: So who will be subject to the new tax? When is it effective?

A: The new 3.8% tax will apply to the “unearned” income of “High Income” taxpayers. The new Medicare tax on unearned income will take effect January 1, 2013. Proceeds from the tax will be allocated to shoring up the Medicare fund.


Q-3: Who is a “High Income” Taxpayer?

A: Those whose tax filing status is “single” will be subject to the new unearned income taxes if they have Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of more than $200,000. Married couples filing a joint return with AGI of more than $250,000 will also be subject to the new tax. (The AGI threshold for married filing separate returns is $125,000.)

Top 10 Mistakes Home Sellers Make